THE REMOVAL OF THE COLLEGE.
There is yet another report which, though its interest may only be local, I think is worthy of a place in this Memoir, as it not only shows Mr. Stevenson’s firm conviction in the ultimate success of his Calton Hill improvements, but is a pleasing record of his interest in the scene of his early studies.
It is not, I believe, generally known that Mr. Stevenson made an unsuccessful attempt to have the University buildings, then in progress, removed from the old town to the site proposed to be opened up on the Calton Hill; and the remarks he then made, addressed to the Right Honourable Sir John Marjoribanks, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, may have interest even at the present day, as shadowing forth views which, in the now altered relations of the new and old town, have been to some extent realised.
“In making the following observations at the desire of the Lord Provost regarding the completion of the College of Edinburgh, the memorialist would be understood as referring to the site of the building rather than to the merits of any particular design, of which he does not presume to give any opinion, as it is a matter which more properly falls under the observations of the architect than the engineer.
“In treating of the fitness of the present site of the College of Edinburgh, it may be proper to take some cursory notice of the situation of the Old College, as connected with the houses and streets in the neighbourhood, and then show the alterations which the University grounds have undergone since the design was first formed of rebuilding the College.
“Old College.
“In so far as the memorialist can recollect the exterior of the area of the Old College, it was occupied by a range of low buildings of only two stories, particularly upon the southern and western sides, and was again divided by a range of buildings into a small lower court towards the north, and the present main courtyard on the south, and these two courts communicated with each other by a spacious flight of steps, so that the principal or higher court was comparatively open and free to the influence both of the sun and of the air. Nor was there any obstruction to this state of things beyond the precincts of the College for a considerable period after the New College was commenced, and until the elegance of the building stamped a new value upon all the surrounding property. But, unfortunately, by this time the funds for the works fell short, and the operations were stopped. The Magistracy, also, who originally entered upon this great work, in rotation retired from office, and the same zeal was perhaps not felt by those who immediately succeeded; and we are now left to regret the shortness of the period of human life, which has removed the man who conceived the magnificent design of this building, which is now so completely invested with streets as to be rendered nearly unfit for the purposes of its foundation.
“New College.
“The site of the New College of Edinburgh, as already stated, does not possess any of those properties which are considered essential to the convenience and eligibility of a public school. Instead of being in a retired situation with sequestered walks, like the other colleges of the United Kingdom, it is closely surrounded by paved streets, which are the most public thoroughfares for carriages in the city, insomuch that the memorialist has witnessed the annoyance of Playfair’s mathematical class by a ballad-singer, and he has oftener than once seen the Professor of Moral Philosophy put to silence by the disloading of a cart with bars of iron in College Wynd; and at all times the driving of a single carriage briskly in the streets which surround the College is sufficient to disturb, and even to interrupt, the classes. To this it may be replied that double windows will prevent such interruptions; but these would obscure the light which already, from the late erection (on all sides) of very high buildings, is much injured.
“So strongly is the memorialist impressed with these views, from what he has himself as a student experienced, and from what he has heard from others, that he cannot resist bringing them forcibly under the notice of your Lordship in connection with the erection of a building for one of the first seminaries of education in Europe.
“When your Lordship’s predecessors in the office of the magistracy adopted the plan of Robert Adam, the most eminent and justly celebrated architect of his day, the site was comparatively free from the objections stated. It is not therefore the plan which is objectionable, but it is the neighbourhood which has been so altered and changed as to be very unsuitable to the elegant design of the architect.
“From causes to which it is unnecessary to allude, the building of the New College has only advanced about one third towards the perfecting of the design, and a sum of money is now expected to be procured for its completion. The present moment is therefore one of the greatest importance for considering the deficiencies of the present site, and if found materially defective, as humbly appears to your memorialist to be the case, it were much better to change the site of the building while it may be done without much loss, and execute the design in a more eligible situation.
“It must always be kept in view that when this design was made the grounds were open to the free circulation of the air and the full influence of light. But now the case is materially altered, and if the design is executed under such a change of circumstances the direct rays of the sun will hardly ever reach the area of the courtyard, especially in the winter months, neither will there be that free circulation of air which is essential to health and comfort, and moss (byssus) will make its appearance upon the lower parts in the interior of the courtyard, which is very unsuitable in a magnificent building such as Mr. Adam’s design for the College of Edinburgh.
“At the period when the rebuilding of the College was determined upon there was perhaps little choice as to the spot for its erection; the number of students, now greatly on the increase, was at that time much smaller, and the College grounds were then much more relieved and uncumbered with other buildings, a state of things which most unquestionably would have been preserved had the building proceeded as was expected; but in the lapse of about one third of a century many changes take place, and the slow progress of the building necessarily produced a want of energy in the official people to prevent the use that has since been made by the respective proprietors of the surrounding grounds.
“At the present crisis, however, your Lordship will now feel yourself called upon in a review of these circumstances to consider what is proper to be done upon a great scale for the ultimate best advantage of future generations in a matter of great public interest. Under these impressions a field of operation is just opening for your Lordship’s consideration, in a prolongation of Princes Street in a direct line to the lands of Calton Hill and Heriot’s Hospital, now in progress under the auspices of your Lordship. To take a minute view of this improvement would be tedious, and would require the notice of more particulars than these observations are intended to refer to. But in a general way it may be noticed that there is ample space and freedom for the execution of Mr. Adam’s design on the lands to which the new approach will lead by a very easy access.
“It may be objected to the removal of the College that it would be inconvenient for the students; but for those who are perhaps the most numerous, living in the New Town, a site for the College on the north side of the town would be the most convenient, and for a different class lodgings at a cheap rate would be procured quite at hand in the Canongate.
“A more powerful objection would perhaps arise from the contiguity of the present site of the College to the Infirmary and other institutions connected with the education of the medical classes, but these may also be got over by a little arrangement in the present hours of the classes, and one would not despair of seeing a more direct road projected from the Calton Hill to the southern side of the town were the College removed to that neighbourhood. With regard to any real loss to the students, it is not believed that such could be instructed were this proposition fully considered. But those who would perhaps be the most clamorous are the persons who have made the most of their property by building immense piles of lodging-houses in the immediate vicinity of the College, and have thus ruined the neighbourhood.
“With regard to the funds for this change of site, your memorialist is of opinion that the removal of the College from the present valuable grounds in the central parts of the city, for buildings applicable to commercial and economical purposes, would be attended with an increase of funds towards the new erection;—for the lower part all round would be opened for valuable shops, while the higher parts would answer for dwelling-houses and other purposes. The part of the front would be easily convertible into a house for the Royal Bank, which seems much wanted, and in short it may be confidently stated that upon the whole there would be no loss, but gain, by the change of position, while very many advantages could be pointed out as attending such a measure, were this the proper place for entering more fully into the subject.
“The proposal stated is not new; it has been often under the memorialist’s consideration, and he has heard it favourably spoken of and received by several of the Professors of the University, in particular Professors Leslie and Playfair, and others eminently qualified to judge correctly upon the subject.”
With this report I conclude what may be fairly held to be of purely local interest, but which nevertheless I have thought worthy of a place in the memoir of one whose great anxiety ever was to secure the amenity of Edinburgh, and make it attractive not only as a place of residence but as a seat of learning.
CHAPTER VI.
FERRIES.
Ferry Engineering—Extracts from Report on the Tay Ferries—Reports on various Ferries—Orkney and Shetland Ferry, etc.
Before we had steamers to navigate our firths and railways to bridge our estuaries, the “crossing of the ferry” was an event of no small solicitude to the traveller. In the sailing pinnace-boat of those days he not only might encounter serious danger, but his exposure to sea-sickness and drenching spray depended wholly on the weather, and sometimes the length of the passage, and the duration of his suffering could not be foretold by the most experienced “Skipper,” as the captain of the boat was invariably styled. Anything that could reduce the hazard and uncertainty of so miserable a state of things was naturally hailed as a priceless boon; and the improvement of “ferry communication” at the beginning of this century was an important branch of civil engineering. Its successful practice demanded nautical knowledge as well as constructive experience, for the engineer had first of all to study the strength and direction of the tidal currents of flood and ebb, and then to consider from what points on the shore a ferry-boat, under the varying states of wind and tide, could most readily make her passage across. He had further to select the most suitable sites for landing-places, and to construct high and low water slips at different points to meet the varying states of tide and wind, and to construct roads of more or less extent to connect the landing-places with existing turnpikes. All this arrangement was required, because at the time of which I write, before steamboats were invented, two costly deep-water piers placed ex adverso of each other, one on each side of a ferry, would not have met the requirements of the case; for the management of a sailing pinnace, at the mercy of the currents and winds, demanded not a single pier for which to steer, but a choice of several points, on as wide a range of coast as possible, for which the “skipper” could shape his course and make a landing. Mr. Stevenson’s nautical experience peculiarly fitted him for giving valuable advice in this important branch of marine engineering. It is no doubt a branch of the profession which may be said to be obsolete, but I do not know that on that account it is undeserving of notice; and the best mode I can think of for conveying to any one who may be interested in it an idea of the “ferry engineering” of former times, is to give an extract, with an illustrative sketch, of one of Mr. Stevenson’s early Ferry Reports. I select for this purpose a report made to the “Freeholders, Justices of the Peace, and Commissioners of Supply of the counties of Fife and Forfar” relative to the ferries across the Tay at Dundee:—
“Having examined the shores and firth of Tay the reporter has now the honour of submitting the following as his report regarding the proposed improvements:—
“The improvement of the ferries on the Tay has long been the desire of the public; and though this measure has hitherto been delayed, on account of the expense which necessarily attends such operations, yet so desirable an object has been invariably kept in view; and now, when the advantages attending the recently improved state of Queensferry and Kinghorn ferries have been in a good measure realised, the passage across the Tay has very opportunely been brought under the consideration of the freeholders of the adjoining counties.
“The present landing-slips or quays upon the Tay are situate at Dundee upon the north, and at Woodhaven and Newport on the south. The bed of the firth or river at Dundee is so much silted up and encumbered with sandbanks and mud, that the piers, which were no doubt originally built of sufficient extent, and perhaps commanding the necessary depth of water for floating the passage-boats at low tides, have at length become inadequate to so great a thoroughfare, and the boats are now left by the water at every spring-tide, to the great annoyance and inconvenience of the public.
“It will be observed from the plans accompanying this report that the Craig pier at Dundee is proposed to be extended from the southern extremity of the present landing-slip or pier 400 feet in length, or to the southern extremity of the Craig rock, so as to command a depth of about five feet at low water of spring-tides, which will be sufficient to float decked boats of twenty to twenty-five tons register, built upon a suitable construction for sailing. It is proposed to construct this pier, where the greatest business is to be done, upon the plan of a double pier, sixty feet in breadth; and as it will now be of a much greater extent than formerly, a screen wall is proposed to be erected in the middle of it, in a longitudinal direction, so as to check the waves or run of the water over the pier, and also for the defence and shelter of passengers from the inclemency of the weather. This pier will form an inclined plane sloping to seaward at the rate of one perpendicular to twenty-six horizontal.
Fig. 14.
“In sailing from the southern side of the Tay for Dundee, it will on some occasions be found convenient, with certain directions of the wind and currents of the tide, to have landing-slips or piers both above and below the town of Dundee, so as to prevent the necessity of tacking with adverse winds, as is the case at present from the want of such accommodation. Upon examining the shores above or to the westward of Dundee, the most convenient position for a landing-slip is at the Magdalene Point, about 1400 yards to the westward of the Craig pier at Dundee.
“In the same manner a convenient position presents itself on the rocky shores of the Rood Yards, about 2000 yards below or to the eastward of the Craig pier. These proposed new piers are delineated and laid down in the drawings accompanying this report.[8]
“Upon the southern side of the Tay, and opposite to Dundee, the harbour or landing-slip most frequented at present is that of Newport. In former times, when the accumulation of sand, called the Middle Bank, between the opposite shores of the ferry at Dundee, was less extensive, the principal landing-place upon the Fife side of the firth was that of Woodhaven. Newport is a small harbour, built of masonry, with a landing-slip or sloping pier attached to the outward wall of the harbour for the convenience of the ferry-boats. At this station it will therefore only be necessary to extend the landing-slip about eighty-eight feet northward, in order to obtain five feet of depth at low water of spring tides; and as the present sloping pier or slip is inconveniently narrow, it is proposed to add fourteen feet to its breadth; and the reporter would recommend that this work, in connection with the pier at Dundee, should be executed in the first instance, on account of its being of primary importance in the improvement of the Ferry.
“At Woodhaven it is proposed to add seventy-one feet to the length of the landing-slip, to enable the ferry-boats to approach it at low water of spring tides, in the same manner as at Newport.
“At or near Craighead, about 830 yards below or to the eastward of Newport, there is a convenient point of land, where it is proposed to erect a slip or pier 250 feet in length and 30 in breadth. This pier will command five feet, or a sufficient depth of water for the ferry-boats at the lowest tides, and is in a position calculated to be highly useful.
“A pier has likewise been suggested as necessary at Wormit Bay, about a mile to the westward of Woodhaven, which, in certain directions of the wind, may no doubt be found useful; but when the piers opposite to Dundee come to be put in good order, and the ferry placed under proper regulations, it is presumed that a pier at Wormit Bay would very seldom be found necessary. The cost of these works is estimated at £20,952, 13s. 6d.
“In forming the several landing-places already described, it is obvious that there must be a ready communication between each of these piers and the public roads in their respective neighbourhoods. It will also be of essential importance to this measure, that a connection by good roads be formed and kept up between the several landing-places, in so far as this can be effected. At present there is a pretty good line of road between Woodhaven and Newport, which would require to be extended eastward to the landing-place at Craighead.
“In the event of Craig pier being adopted as the landing-place at Dundee, it might be advisable to take a power in the proposed Act, as a measure of the burgh of Dundee, for making a new and more direct approach from that pier to the main street. The extension and formation of these roads, however, will necessarily fall under the joint consideration of the trustees for the ferries and roads in apportioning the expense between the respective trusts.
“Boats.
“At present there are said to be no less than about thirty boats plying upon the passage at Dundee, which are navigated by about fifty men and boys. But were the piers and landing-places, with the accesses to them, completed in the manner proposed, and the whole placed under proper regulations, there can be little doubt that the ferry of Dundee would be much better attended, and the public better served, by one half of the present number of boats, as has been experienced on the ferries of the Firth of Forth.
“Steamboats.
“Some are of opinion that both the number of boats and of piers or landing-places might be still further reduced by the introduction of the Steamboat upon this passage. The reporter, however, does not think it would be advisable to have fewer than three landing-places at each station, as even the steamboat itself is more or less liable to fall short or to be driven past its port by adverse winds and strong currents; and, in a great public measure of this kind, it is proper to be prepared for the worst that is likely to happen. Regarding the adoption of the steamboat in preference to sailing-boats, the reporter is not however prepared to give any very decided opinion upon the subject. He has, indeed, seen the steamboat used with great facility on the passage across the river Mersey at Liverpool, and has himself brought the plan of a steamboat under the notice of several of the trustees for Kinghorn and Queensferry passages, proposed to be constructed upon similar principles with that originally tried, it is believed, by the late Mr. Millar of Dalswinton. But it would seem to be premature to recommend the framing of the Bill or the construction of piers for Dundee ferry upon the idea of the exclusive use of the steamboat. The consideration of the late unpleasant accidents which have befallen some of those boats renders this a matter of great delicacy, and one in which much precaution should be used on so public a ferry. Under such circumstances it is not only necessary to consult the actual safety of passengers while afloat, but even to meet their prejudices, with proper attention to their comfort. From considerations of this kind, the reporter recommends that such of the piers or landing-slips on the ferry of Dundee as may ultimately be erected, should be completed agreeably to the plan herein proposed; and it is fortunate that, with some trifling alterations or additions, the piers suitable for the common boat can be made answerable for the steamboat. When this measure is in full operation it may then be highly proper to make an experiment with the steamboat upon the passage at Dundee, and if this mode is approven of by the public it can be extended, and the number of sailing-boats diminished accordingly.”
Mr. Stevenson was employed to give similar advice by other Trusts, and particularly by the “Trustees of the Queensferry Passage” and the “Trustees of the Edinburgh and Fife Ferry,” both across the Forth,—the “Freeholders and Justices of Peace of the counties of Ross and Sutherland,” for the Ferry of the Dornoch,—the “Freeholders of the county of Glamorganshire,” for the new passage-ferry of the Severn, to all of whom he made reports at various times, as to the improvement of the mode of communication under their charge. He also was engaged by the Lords of the Treasury “to inquire into and report on the best mode of improving the post-packet communication to Orkney and Shetland,” which he did after careful survey and consideration, in an elaborate report, from which I give the following extracts, as illustrating some of the disadvantages under which the public laboured before steam was generally adopted:—
“The islands of Orkney are separated from the coast of Caithness or mainland of Scotland by the rapid channel of the Pentland Firth, which varies in breadth from six to nine miles, while Zetland lies fifty miles to the northward of Orkney.”
“These two groups of islands, forming one county, are of late years greatly advanced in importance, and possess an aggregate population of 60,000 inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in maritime affairs and fishing adventures. From their local position also in the North Sea, they lie much in the track of vessels sailing in the higher latitudes, and correspondence with them regarding the destination and insurance of ships is often of the greatest importance to commercial men. It is likewise known to the Right Honourable the Lord Advocate of Scotland, and the Honourable the Sheriff of the county, that the want of a proper communication by post not unfrequently interferes with the regular administration of justice in these islands; and now that Orkney and Shetland jointly send a member to Parliament, the evils resulting from the want of a regular communication press more forcibly, not only on the inhabitants of these islands, but on the public generally.
“So uncertain is the post of Zetland on its present footing, that the reporter himself carried to Lerwick the first intelligence of the appointment of Sir William Rae as Lord Advocate of Scotland, after it had been currently known through the newspapers in all other parts of the kingdom for several weeks, and it is well known that the succession of the King was not known in Lerwick for several months after the event took place. During the winter months the intercourse is indeed precarious as well as uncertain, and much painful delay is often experienced by parties interested in any question connected with the insurance of vessels wrecked on this dangerous coast.
“In order to lessen the labour and expense to themselves, the Orkney ferrymen on either side contrive to leave their shores so as to meet about the middle of the Firth, where they exchange the mail and passengers, and then return to their respective homes. In this way they seldom complete the full trip across the Firth, excepting when obliged by stress of weather. This interchange of the post from boats, it must be allowed, is rather a hazardous experiment anywhere, but more especially in the middle of the Pentland Firth; and whether the inhospitable state of the shores on either side, the rough and boisterous nature of the sea to be passed through, or the want of management be considered, there is evidently great room for improvement on the ferry of the Pentland Firth.”
This communication is now, as is well known, carried on by first-class steamers, which touch at Kirkwall and Lerwick, and by a daily mail steamer which crosses the Pentland Firth from the low-water pier at Scrabster in Caithness to Stromness in Orkney; and the travelling public may be congratulated that the ferry communication of the early part of the century, of which I have given a sketch in this chapter, no longer forms a part of the practice of the civil engineer.
CHAPTER VII.
RAILWAYS.
1812–1826.
Canals and Railways on one level—Haulage on Railways—Railways in Scotland—Edinburgh and Midlothian, Stockton and Darlington, and Edinburgh and London Railways—Uniform gauge proposed—Notes on Railways for the Highland and Agricultural Society—Letter from George Stephenson.
Great powers of observation, combined with fertile and practical mechanical resources, enabled Mr. Stevenson in many cases to form engineering opinions which may truly be said to have been “before their time,” and in no subject, perhaps, was this more strikingly realised than in his views as to railways.
Impressed with the great inconvenience of change of level in canals, involving “lockage,” with all its expensive works and serious obstruction of traffic, he early formed a firm belief that wherever lockage could be avoided, by making even a considerable detour in the line of canal, it was sound engineering to adopt the level line, although it might be at the cost of additional length. Founding on this general opinion, so early as 1812, he traced out and proposed lines of canal to be carried upon one level, without lockage, through the valleys of Strathmore and Strathearn, connecting Perth, Forfar, Arbroath, and Montrose, and also by a line of canal, by Broxburn, Linlithgow, Polmont, Castlecary, Campsie, and Broomielaw, to unite Edinburgh and Glasgow.
His early researches on the subject of canals prepared him, about 1816, to extend the same reasoning to railways, which, with wonderful sagacity, he foresaw must become what he termed the “British highway” of the future. He found that his first idea of tracks of iron and stone to improve the draught on common roads was not destined to meet the requirements of the future; and when as yet nothing was known of railways beyond the tramways connected with coal-fields, and no proposal had been made to adapt them to passenger traffic, Mr. Stevenson was engaged tracing in all directions through Scotland lines of railway as a new mode of conveyance to supersede roads. Some of these early proposals, extending to about five hundred miles, are shown in hard lines on [Fig. 15], and of all these railways he made surveys, estimates, and elaborate reports addressed to Committees of subscribers by whom the various schemes were supported.
It must be remembered that at that early period no other power than that of horses was contemplated for performing the haulage either on road, canal, or tramway, and Mr. Stevenson, true to his early views as to the disadvantage of lockage on canals, spent much time in experimenting on the prejudicial effect of steep inclines on horse railways, and in endeavouring, in his various surveys, to discover routes by which his lines of railway might be carried through, as much as possible, on one level, regarding a few miles additional length of line as quite unimportant compared to the disadvantage of a steep gradient,—a view which was more appreciated before the locomotive engine had taken upon itself the labour of the horse.
Fig. 15.
To show the state of railway matters at the period to which I refer, I think it may not be uninteresting to give, even at some length, extracts from Mr. Stevenson’s report on what was called the Edinburgh Railway. The report, which is dated 1818, was addressed to “His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, and the other noblemen and gentlemen, subscribers for a survey of a railway from the coal field of Midlothian to the city of Edinburgh and port of Leith.”
“In the course of a report relative to a line of canal upon one level, or without lockage, between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the reporter took occasion to state the practicability of a line of railway from the coal field of the vale of the Esk to the city of Edinburgh and the port of Leith, founded upon a communication which he had the honour to make to Sir William Rae, Baronet, and the Honourable Baron Clerk, so far back as the year 1812. This subject having since attracted the notice of Sir John Hope, Baronet, and several of the other landed proprietors of Midlothian, the reporter had consequently a correspondence with Messrs. Gibson and Oliphant, Writers to the Signet, on the part of the promoters of this measure.
“A public meeting was accordingly called by advertisement to be held in the Royal Exchange Coffee-house on the 3d day of September 1817, when John Clerk, Esq. of Eldin, having taken the chair, the reporter received instructions to survey a line or lines of railway from the Midlothian coal field to the city of Edinburgh and port of Leith; and he now submits the following as his report, with reference to the accompanying map or plan, and sections of the several lines of road surveyed.
“It is uncertain at what periods the inhabitants of Edinburgh were generally obliged to lay aside the use of timber, from the distance of carriage, as their chief building material, or of wood and turf as fuel; neither have we any certain information at what time pit coal was discovered, or the coal field of the Lothians first opened. But it is in the recollection of some persons still living, that, owing to the miserable and circumscribed state of the roads, or rather the want of formed roads altogether, pit coal continued to be conveyed in sacks and on horseback for supplying the city of Edinburgh. These horse tracks, originally taken up by accident, were persevered in by obstinate habit; and being afterwards followed as the lines of our future roads, have become the ultimate source of much of the difficulty attending their improvement, from the soft and miry track of the pack-horse and the sledge, to the broad and spacious stoned carriage-way, in combination with the trim footpath of the present day. But, even here, experience shows that it would be improper to rest satisfied, and cease from further exertion. The acclivities of the road may still be levelled, and its asperities smoothed, by the introduction of the more compact and durable materials of the British Roadway or Iron Bail. Such, however, has been the progressive nature of discovery in all ages, that we are only beginning to appreciate the immense advantages which would attend the introduction of a new system of roads or railways, laid upon a level or horizontal base, as admirably calculated to increase the power of the horse in a tenfold proportion by destroying friction—that bane to animal labour as now applied on the common road.
“Wagon-ways constructed entirely of square wooden frames or rails, laid in two right lines on wooden sleepers, appear to have been in use at Newcastle so far back as the year 1671. The plan of cast-iron railways seems to have been originally introduced by the great Iron Company of Colebroke Dale in Shropshire, only about the year 1786, as an improvement upon the tram or wooden railway; and such are likely to be the benefits resulting from this discovery, that we doubt not, as this system develops itself, the name of the person who first conceived the idea will eagerly be sought after, and honour done to him, as to one of the greatest benefactors of his country. We might mention the name of the late Mr. Jessop, as the first engineer of eminence who seems to have introduced railways in the south. He was also the engineer for the magnificent works of his Grace the Duke of Portland in Scotland, connected with which there is a double railway from Kilmarnock to Troon, which is ten miles in length. The other railways in Scotland of any extent are those at the works of the Carron Company, Lord Elgin’s, Mr. Erskine of Mar’s, Sir John Hope’s, and other coal works. A public railway has also been projected from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Glasgow, an extent of country of about 125 miles; and an Act of Parliament has already been obtained for completing part of this track, viz., from Berwick to Kelso.
“A railway has the advantage of being formed at an average of one third perhaps of the expense of a navigable canal; and in many situations its first cost may even be compared with the expense of making a common road. The result is also favourable if we inquire into the comparative quantities of work done upon a canal and a level railway. Upon the canals in England, a boat of thirty tons burden is generally tracked by one horse, and navigated by two men and a boy. On a level railway, it may be concluded that a good horse managed by a man or lad will work with eight tons. At this rate the work performed on the railway by one man and a horse is more than in the proportion of one third of the work done upon the canal by three persons and a horse, if we take into account the more speedy rate of travelling and the facilities to general trade in loading and discharging, together with the difference of the first cost of a railway, which altogether give it in some cases a decided advantage over the navigable canal. If we compare the railway with the common road, it may be fairly stated that, in the instance of a level railway, the work will be increased in an eight or ten fold proportion. The best horse, indeed, with difficulty, works with three fourths of a ton on the common road, from the undulating line of its draught, but on a level railway it is calculated that he will work even with ten tons. But to increase the economy of the railway system still further, we have only to employ one man to work two horses.
“Line of Draught.
“With regard to the line of draught, or longitudinal section of a railway, it may be stated as one of its great advantages that it is more easily accommodated to the irregularities of the ground through which it has to pass than a navigable canal; and even where the ground is so irregular as not to admit of a uniformly level track, or an inclined plane, there are several simple methods which may be resorted to for lifting the wagons from one level to another, so as to produce similar effects with lockage on a canal. In so far, however, as the present design of the Edinburgh Railway has been carried by actual survey, neither of these plans will be found necessary upon the main lines. Even on the descending line, the fall is so extremely gentle that the horses in returning may be loaded with four or five tons. But the proposed mode of lockage may with propriety be introduced on the several offset branches, such as those from Leith to the main line, and from Monkton Hall and the Cowpits to Dalkeith, and to the southern parts of the county, on which a trade may be expected to be carried both to and from the main line.
“Where the load or trade is all in one direction, it is a maxim in practice, that the fall should be so apportioned to the rise, that the work may be equal down with the load, and up with the empty wagons. But where there is to be a trade both ways, it is obviously much to be desired that a level in all such cases should be obtained. This, in the Edinburgh Railway, has been found from the declining aspect of the country towards the sea; but as there will be less return trade on this railway in merchandise and manure, etc., to the eastward, than the coal and building materials, etc., carried to the city, it becomes a question of policy how far it may be proper, in this instance, to adopt the level line at a great additional expense.
“By the level line to Edinburgh the branch to Leith becomes also somewhat more lengthened than by the descending line, which, instead of preserving the level, is always falling, or approaching towards Leith. The reporter, as before noticed, has various modes in view, by which the branch to Leith may be made of a very easy line of draught, or be thrown into a succession of levels, by a species of lockage or stepping. Where sudden acclivities occur on the line of a railway they are generally overcome by an inclined plane, of greater or less extent, according to the particular rise, and on this the loaded wagons are brought up by a steam-engine. But to render railways applicable to all situations, it seems to be necessary that the overcoming of such obstacles should be within the reach or power of the driver and his horse; by working a kind of gin connected with an inclined plane, or by lifting the loaded wagons perpendicularly, which may in various ways be accomplished by the aid of pulleys, by the common lever, or the revolution of a wheel.
“This subject has been justly considered to be a matter of so much public importance, that the Highland Society of Scotland has offered a premium for an Essay, with models, for lockage on railways; and the reporter has no doubt that by this means much additional light will be thrown on the subject.
“There are few subjects on which those conversant in the working of draught animals are more divided than about the proper line of draught. Some do not hesitate to affirm, that a level road is injurious to the horse, and that an undulating road is preferable to one by which the ascent is long, though gradual. Such are of opinion, that by throwing the road into successive eminences, or up and down hill, various muscles are brought into action, while others are left at rest, and this alternation they conceive to be the best condition of things for the animal.
“Being rather, however, at a loss in regard to that part of the subject which relates to the operation of the muscles, the reporter applied for a solution of the case to a distinguished medical friend in this city [Dr. John Barclay], eminent for his knowledge and for his great exertions in the science of Comparative Anatomy. His answer to the queries which he allowed the reporter to put contain the following comprehensive passages: ‘My acquaintance with the muscles by no means enables me to explain how a horse should be more fatigued by travelling on a road uniformly level than by travelling over a like space upon a road that crosses heights and hollows; and it is demonstrably a false idea that one set of muscles can alternately rest and come into action in cases of that kind. The daily practice of ascending heights, it has been said, gives an animal wind, and enlarges the chest; it may also with equal truth be affirmed that many horses lose their wind under this sort of training, and irrecoverably suffer from imprudent attempts to induce such a habit.’ In short, he ascribes much to prejudice, ‘originating with the man, who is continually in quest of variety, rather than the horse, who, consulting only his own ease, seems quite unconscious of Hogarth’s line of beauty.’
“In the course of investigating the subject of the draught of horses, the reporter has made several experiments with the dynamometer, both upon canals and railways, with a view to ascertain the power of horses and the best line of draught; and he has further the satisfaction to find, that the result of these trials agrees nearly with experiments made, and obligingly communicated to him, from various parts of the kingdom. The reporter therefore concludes that the force with which a horse will continue to work is about one-sixth or one-seventh of his absolute weight. Now, as he found the average weight of three ordinary cart horses to be about ten cwt. it may be assumed, generally, that a horse can continue to work with a force equal to 160 lb.; and allowing 40 lb., or one fourth, for friction, there remains 120 lb. to be applied to the load. In these trials, when the wagons were put in motion, it appeared, under favourable circumstances, that a force of about 12 lbs. only was necessary to move one ton upon a level edge railway, which by calculation would give about ten tons as the load of a good horse weighing ten cwt.; but, for practice, this will perhaps more properly be taken at about eight tons. With regard to inclined planes, it may be noticed, that for every one fourth of an inch of rise to the lineal yard of road, the force must be increased, or the load diminished, in a ratio or proportion varying at the rate of about one half, one third, one fourth, one eighth, and one ninth, etc.
“Such are the happy effects of a wise and extended policy, that, notwithstanding the expensive war in which this country has been engaged, more has actually been done in Great Britain, within the last twenty or thirty years, for the improvement of the highways, and in laying open the country by new and better lines of road, than was effected for centuries before that period. With such public improvements we presume to class the measure of the proposed railway from the city of Edinburgh and its port of Leith, calculated as it is to ramify through the various tracts of East Lothian, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk shires, and to become, in time, a system of the greatest importance in its consequences to the advancement of the commerce and agriculture of this part of the kingdom. Under impressions of this kind, the noblemen and gentlemen who now come forward as promoters of this measure are actuated; and with this in view, the reporter lays before them the accompanying survey, and will now endeavour to state the consideration which he has given the subject, by describing the several lines he has surveyed, and estimating the probable expense and advantages of the measure.”
Mr. Stevenson then describes the proposed line, which he estimated at £52,000, and terminates his report by giving some remarks on the construction of railways, which are interesting as noticing the use of cast and malleable iron rails, and George Stephenson’s experiments on locomotives.
“Construction of the Railway.
“In giving some general description or outline of the construction of the proposed railway, it may be observed, that the formation of railways, or roads of cast iron, is comparatively but a recent discovery, which, however, is likely to be attended with immense advantage to this commercial and agricultural country. From the great traffic to be expected upon the Edinburgh Railway, two sets of wheel-tracks will require to be laid,—one for the wagons or carriages coming to town, and another for those going to the country. This double railway, with the necessary allowance for driving-paths, etc., will occupy at least twenty feet of space in its cross-section, viz., four feet three inches for each set of tracks; a space of four feet between the respective wagon-ways; and three feet nine inches on each side for a driving-path, fences, and gutters. The horse-paths, or spaces between the waggon-tracks of the railway, as proposed above, will be four feet three inches in breadth, or the width of the square part of the common cart axle, it being also a great advantage for the convenience of loading, etc., and for the stability of the railway, to have broad and rather low wagons. But from the general use to which this public railway is applicable, it may be found advisable to acquire even a greater breadth than twenty feet. The space between the tracks will be made up with stones, broken very small, and blinded or covered with gravel, as in the best description of road-making. The footpath for the drivers may be made with gravel, coal dust, pan ashes, or brick-dust, as may be found most convenient in the district of the railway.
“Cast Iron Rails.
“The cast iron tracks of the earlier railways were made flat, or about four inches in breadth, with a projecting ridge or flange, upon the outer verge, and are technically called plate rails. But the reporter is led from his own observation, and the opinion of the following professional gentlemen obligingly communicated to him, viz., Mr. Wilson of Troon, Mr. Bald of Alloa, Mr. Landale of Charlestown, Mr. Grieve of Sheriff Hall, and Mr. Buddle of Newcastle, who are not only scientifically but practically conversant in this matter, to conclude that the plate rail not only induces greater friction, but is more exposed to have the wheels clogged and interrupted with gravel or small stones than that called the edge rail, which, in its best construction, of cast iron, consists of a bar of about 1½ inch in thickness or breadth, for the seat of the wheel, and of a depth corresponding to the weight to be carried. This bar is set upon edge instead of being laid flat. In this manner the edge rail presents less friction, and, weight for weight, is much stronger for the load than the plate rail; upon the same principle as, in modern carpentry, the beam is now set on edge, instead of being laid on its side as formerly. The Reporter is therefore to recommend an edge rail warranted to work with two tons, including the wagon, of the weight of 140 lb. per lineal yard of finished double railway. Lighter dimensions might indeed be found to answer; but for a public railway, the rails should be made of a greater strength than is barely sufficient for a given weight, as this cannot always be kept within bounds, or regulated to a nicety. The expense of a little additional weight of cast iron, in the first instance, will be greatly compensated in the end, by avoiding frequent repairs, and will thereby be amply repaid, while the expense of laying the road, and other contingencies, are much the same in the light as in the heavy rail. The mode of fixing is another point of great importance in the construction of a substantial railway. In the early practice of laying railways, the value of this new discovery was for a time lost to the public, owing to the intricacy and difficulty of this part of the design. Much trouble and expense have in this way been occasioned, in consequence of using, for the underground fixtures, soft and friable stones, liable to be acted upon by the alternate changes of the weather, from their being necessarily placed so near the surface. A method has been adopted of making the cross fixtures under ground, with bars wholly of cast iron, to which the rails are attached, with iron pins. Much, however, depends upon the nature and tenacity of the ground to be passed over. At the works of Lord Elgin and the Carron Company, the use of the sleeper or cross iron bar is laid aside, and other alterations are daily suggested as improvements, in the method of laying and fixing the rails, and also in the construction of the wheels and wagons. With regard to the construction of cast iron rails, they are, in general, made in the lengths of from three to four feet; but the reporter is inclined to think that the perfection of the cast-iron railway will be found to consist rather in shortening the rails very considerably than adopting even the shortest of those lengths; but this and similar matters will fall more properly to be matured in the practical details of the business.
“Malleable Iron Rails.
“One point, however, deserves particular notice here, as likely to be attended with the most important advantages to the railway system, which is the application of malleable iron instead of cast iron rails. Three miles and a half of this description of railway have been in use for about eight years on Lord Carlisle’s works at Tindal Fell in Cumberland, where there are also two miles of cast iron rail; but the malleable iron road is found to answer the purpose in every respect better. Experiments with malleable iron rails have also been made at Mr. Taylor’s works at Ayr and Sir John Hope’s at Pinkie; and, upon the whole, this method, in the case of the Tindal Fell Railway, is not only considerably cheaper in the first cost than the cast iron railway, but is also much less liable to accident. In the use of malleable iron bars the joints of the railway are conveniently obtained, about twelve feet apart, and three pedestals are generally placed between each pair of joints.
“Locomotive Engine.
“Some of the most striking improvements in the system of railways are the patent inventions of Mr. Stephenson of Newcastle, particularly his locomotive engine, by which fifty tons of coal and upwards are at one load conveyed several miles along a railway by the power of steam.”
Acting on the same general principles, Mr. Stevenson surveyed and reported on such lines as the “Montrose and Brechin Railway,” the “Strathmore Railway,” and the “East-Lothian Railway,” which, as has been shown, embraced a large portion of the principal business part of Scotland. But at that time Scotland was not ready either to take up his enlarged views, or to find money to carry them out, and the prospectuses issued by the different Committees who zealously promoted these railway schemes did not meet sufficient support to enable the promoters to form Companies to apply to Parliament for their construction. We all know that in England, at a later date, our British Railway system was first inaugurated, but it is a fact that redounds greatly to Mr. Stevenson’s credit as an engineer, that all of these Scottish lines, originally surveyed by him, have, with or without deviation, been now carried out.
Mr. Stevenson, in his researches for adapting railways to the general communication of the country, had made a great advance in bringing the subject before the public; and he was requested to visit the coal districts in the north of England to advise as to establishing a railway between Stockton and Darlington, with extensions to the coal fields of Bishop-Auckland; which he did in 1819, meeting with Mr. Pease, Mr. Backhouse, and other influential men there, to whom, after making a survey, he reported on the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
In making these various researches, Mr. Stevenson was enabled to suggest many proposals which can only be regarded as valuable for the period at which they were made, but he gave many opinions, which undoubtedly have come wonderfully true in the history of railway communication.
The Right Honourable Sir John Sinclair, Bart., proposed, in 1823, certain queries to Mr. Stevenson relative to a proposal for the construction of an iron railway between the cities of London and Edinburgh, and the following is an extract from his reply, showing, that while he fully appreciated the value of ship-canals, he entertained the conviction that “iron railways” would become, as I have already said, the highway of the future.
“Regarding the practicability of such a scheme, it may be noticed that the late eminent James Watt entertained an idea of the eligibility and great advantage which might accrue to the public from the formation of a central and considerably elevated line of inland navigation constructed so as to ramify through the interior districts of England, and communicate with the principal manufacturing and populous towns in the kingdom.
“In any comprehensive view of a measure of this kind there can be no doubt that an iron railway would not only be much more practicable, but more commodious and useful for general intercourse than a canal. And the comparative expenses of the two operations would probably be in the ratio of about one to eight in favour of the railway. Again, if the advantages of carriage by the railway and the common road be compared, it will be found that the proportion is at the rate of about one to seven, also in favour of the railway.
“The economy of carriage on the railway, when fully contrasted with that of the canal, is also much greater. It may now, indeed, be considered as a generally received opinion, that, unless for enabling sea-borne ships to pass from one side of the coast to another, so as to avoid a tedious or dangerous circumnavigation, the railway in every other case is preferable. It is at the same time to be noticed that when Mr. Watt suggested the idea of a central line of canal many years since, the railway system was then neither so well known nor so much acted upon as now.”
Mr. Stevenson’s belief that railways would ultimately be the general highways of the world, led him to regard with distrust their immediate introduction into Britain in absence of some public Act for their proper regulation, and accordingly, on 29th January 1825, he writes to Lord Melville in the following terms:—“It seems necessary at this time, even before any Act is proposed for a public railway, that a Committee of the House should take the subject of regulating the width according to the number of tracks, and perhaps the strength of rails and weight to be carried on four wheels, in a public Act, otherwise much confusion will ensue. It will be a great loss if these railways, like the common road, should require to be altered that they may communicate with each other.
“All the engineers I have spoken with, including Mr. Telford, agree in this. I have noticed it to Mr. Home Drummond and Mr. Gladstone.
“I put the specification of the bridge at Melville Castle in train before I left home.”
Had it been possible to carry out the spirit of this suggestion, made at that early period, in an Act of the Legislature, I think, in the retrospect of much that took place during our “railway manias” and “railway company competitions,” it might possibly have proved advantageous to the community.
* * * * *
The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, which has ever been foremost to encourage everything that tends to the improvement of the country, regarded the introduction of railways as a matter of great importance, and considering it a subject that came legitimately within their province, offered, in 1818, a premium of fifty guineas for the best essay on the construction of railroads. Many competing treatises were given in, and the Society placed the whole of them in the hands of my father for his opinion and report on their merits, “together with such remarks of his own as he might judge useful.” The result of his examination is given at great length in the Transactions of the Society,[9] accompanied by “notes,” in which he makes several valuable suggestions. Before the period alluded to, the rails in use had been almost invariably made of cast iron or timber; but my father in his notes says—“I have no hesitation in giving a decided preference to malleable iron formed into bars from twelve to twenty feet in length, with flat sides and parallel edges, or in the simple state in which they come from the rolling-mills of the manufacturer.” He also recommends that they should be fixed into guides or chairs of iron supported on props placed at distances in no case exceeding three feet, and that they should be connected with a clamp-joint so as to preserve the whole strength of the material. It is not a little singular that this description, given about forty years ago, may, to use engineering phraseology, be not inaptly called a “specification of the permanent way” of our best railways at the present day.
I close this chapter by giving a letter which shows the value that George Stephenson attached to my father’s researches on railways, while it is at the same time interesting as showing the very moderate estimate which the great Railway Engineer at that time entertained of the performance of the locomotive engine—a machine which was destined ultimately to become, under his skilful management, so important an agent in changing the inland communication of the whole civilised world:—
“Killingworth Colliery,
June 28, 1821.“Robert Stevenson, Esq.
“Sir,—With this you will receive three copies of a specification of a patent malleable iron rail invented by John Birkinshaw of Bedlington, near Morpeth. The hints were got from your Report on Railways, which you were so kind as to send me by favour of Mr. Cookson some time ago. Your reference to Tindal Fell Railway led the inventor to make some experiments on malleable iron bars, the result of which convinced him of the superiority of the malleable over the cast iron—so much so, that he took out a patent. Those rails are so much liked in this neighbourhood, that I think in a short time they will do away the cast iron railways. They make a fine line for our engines, as there are so few joints compared with the other. I have lately started a new locomotive engine, with some improvements on the others which you saw. It has far surpassed my expectations. I am confident a railway on which my engines can work is far superior to a canal. On a long and favourable railway I would stent my engines to travel 60 miles per day with from 40 to 60 tons of goods. They would work nearly fourfold cheaper than horses where coals are not very costly. I merely make these observations, as I know you have been at more trouble than any man I know of in searching into the utility of railways, and I return you my sincere thanks for your favour by Mr. Cookson.
“If you should be in this neighbourhood, I hope you would not pass Killingworth Colliery, as I should be extremely glad if you could spend a day or two with me.—I am, Sir, yours most respectfully,
“G. Stephenson.”
CHAPTER VIII.
HARBOURS AND RIVERS.
1811–1843.
There is scarcely a harbour or river in Scotland about which, at some time, Mr. Stevenson was not asked to give his advice. His opinion was also sought in England and Ireland, and he executed works of greater or less extent in many of the cases in which he was consulted.
We may select from his reports the names of Dundee, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Stonehaven, Granton, Fraserburgh, Ardrossan, Port-Patrick; the rivers Forth, Tay, Severn, Mersey, Dee, Ribble, Wear, Tees, and Erne, as among some of the many places in the United Kingdom where he was employed.
In a subsequent chapter extracts will be found illustrating Mr. Stevenson’s views on various professional subjects, and from these it will be seen that he brought his large experience and study of the waves to bear advantageously and practically on his harbour engineering. He was, as will be gathered from the extracts, at an early period fully alive to the value of spending basins for tranquillising a harbour, and of the proper disposition of the covering piers, in reference to the line of exposure, so as to avoid throwing sea into the harbour’s mouth, or causing it to heap up on coming in contact with the piers; while, as regards rivers, he was no less alive to the value of backwater in keeping open estuaries, and to the necessity of removing all obstructions to the free flow of the tide in river-navigation.
At an early date, for example, Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Price were jointly consulted as to the navigation of the Tees, and I am indebted to Mr. John Fowler of Stockton, the engineer to the Tees Navigation, for the following statement as to the result of that joint reference:—
“The Navigation Company consulted Mr. Stevenson and Mr. H. Price, who differed in opinion as to the general treatment of the river. Mr. Price recommended that it should be contracted by jetties, and Mr. Stevenson that the banks should be faced with continuous walls, stating as his reason for this recommendation, that ‘to project numerous jetties into the river, I regard as inexpedient, being a dangerous encumbrance to navigation, and tending to disturb the currents and destroy the uniformity of the bottom.’ The plan adopted by the Navigation Company was, however, that of Mr. Price; and jetties were constructed on the river to a large extent,” and Mr. Fowler adds, that “after a trial of twenty-seven years it was found that they were liable to all the objections that had been urged against them by Mr. Stevenson.”
Accordingly, under Mr. Fowler’s direction, the whole of the jetties have been removed.
One of the early harbour schemes in which my father was engaged in England, was a harbour at Wallasey Pool, on the Mersey, in which he acted in conjunction with Telford and Nimmo. The following reports will show the nature and extent of work then contemplated as a commencement of the Birkenhead Docks, now so valuable an adjunct to the port of Liverpool. But at the early period of 1828, when the reports were written, the public were not prepared to entertain a scheme of improvement based on so great a scale. It included, as will be seen, not only the formation of a floating harbour at Wallasey on the Mersey, but the construction of a harbour at Helbre on the Dee, with a connecting ship canal between the two estuaries.
“To the Subscribers for the proposed Wet Docks at Wallasey Pool.
“Preliminary Report of Robert Stevenson and Alexander Nimmo, Civil Engineers, on the proposed improvements at Wallasey Pool.
“Liverpool, Feby. 23, 1828.—Having been requested to examine the situation of the Wallasey Pool with a view to discover how far additional accommodation might be obtained there for the increasing trade of the port of Liverpool, we did accordingly meet at Woodside on the 10th February 1828, and after examining the pool at high and low water, and the action of the tides on the northern edge of the Leasowe level, which we found to be overflowed at high water of the 16th and 17th and 18th February, with off-shore winds and moderate weather, we next examined the shore down to low water in that place called Mockbeggar Wharf, which we found to consist of turf and soft marl over a bottom of fine clay. We afterwards visited the western part of the level, which extends to the immediate vicinity of the estuary of the Dee, part of which we examined, also Helbre, Hoylake, and the Rock Channels, and directed certain surveys and levels to be taken for our further information, and though we have not yet obtained all the data requisite for forming estimates of the expense of improvement, we are generally of opinion as follows:—
“That this situation of Wallasey Pool affords, beyond doubt, the most favourable position in the vicinity of Liverpool for an extension of the accommodation of the shipping trade of the port, at a very moderate expense.
“The ground being level, the soil water-tight and of easy excavation, docks may be formed there of any extent. The bay in front between Seacombe and Woodside, though mostly shallow at present, affords the first place of shelter within the Mersey, and small vessels lie there out of the stream in perfect safety. It possesses a creek or channel which could easily be enlarged and deepened so as to form an outer tide harbour similar to the original harbour of Liverpool, but upon a greater scale, and for the scouring of which it would be easy to open up the tide in the pool to the extent of 250 acres, as far as Viners Embankment, and above that to any extent that may be thought desirable. This space having a deep creek through its whole extent forms a complete half-tide basin for facilitating the entrance into the Docks on either side, while on the shallow parts may be formed extensive timber-ponds. Works of masonry in this situation being out of the sea-way and of the stream of the tide, may be constructed with great economy; good building stones are to be found at Bidston Hill, and the whole soil is a brick earth.
“The situation possesses other advantages of access not so obvious, but which may eventually be of the greatest importance. The Leasowe level at the head of this pool extends as far as the river Dee, and touches the sea-shore at Mock Beacon, where indeed it is occasionally overflowed by the tide. In this direction it would be quite practicable to open a direct passage for ships into the Horse Channel, by excavating in marl and clay, only quite clear of the shifting sands which are found in all other parts of the Mersey and Dee. And towards the Dee a ship canal may easily be cut with its entrance either at Dawpool in Hoylake, or in a tide harbour which could be formed at Helbre, a position which affords many maritime advantages.
“That position has several good anchorages in its vicinity, three different passages to sea, and is only five miles from the floating light, the distance of which from Liverpool by Wallasey and Helbre is exactly the same as by the Rock Channel; and nine miles of it would be inland navigation, instead of an intricate passage among sandbanks, the whole of which inland navigation is an addition to the floating harbour.
“Having thus briefly shown the facilities possessed to seaward, we may next turn our attention to those connected with the inland navigation. It is evident that to the ‘flats’ which navigate the Duke’s Canal, Mersey and Irwell, Ellesmere, Sankey, and Weaver Navigations, Wallasey Pool is just as accessible as the Docks of Liverpool, while by a canal to Helbre you communicate with the large navigation of the Dee, and the valuable mineral county of Flintshire; and if ever, as is extremely probable, the canal navigation should be brought nearer to Liverpool, the natural termination would be Tranmere or Wallasey Pool, between which a cut can be easily formed. By this means boats from the small canals in Staffordshire and the other inland counties can be brought down to the seaport and return their cargo without the trouble of transhipment,—an object, as being important to the proprietors of these canals, that there can be little doubt of their endeavouring to carry it into effect whenever the shipping can be accommodated on the Cheshire side.
“Although in the present state of our survey, and until we meet our eminent friend and colleague Mr. Telford, we are not prepared to enter into any detail of plans or estimates of the expense of these improvements, yet we are satisfied he will agree with us in opinion that the cost of even the most expensive will be greatly inferior to that of obtaining any important additional accommodation upon the Liverpool shore, which being almost entirely occupied already, we consider it impossible to obtain there at any expense sufficient room for the increasing trade; and we would conclude this preliminary report by recommending to the thriving and enlightened community of Liverpool to weigh well the advantages above alluded to, and the benefit of now extending their operations to the Cheshire shore.
“Robert Stevenson.
Alexander Nimmo.”
“Intended Ship Canal between the Rivers Dee and Mersey.
“The Report of Thomas Telford, Robert Stevenson, and Alexander Nimmo, Civil Engineers, recommending Two extensive new Sea Ports, etc., on the Rivers Dee and Mersey, adjacent to Liverpool, with a Floating Harbour or Ship Canal to connect them.
“The undersigned, having so far completed their land and water surveys as to enable them to speak with confidence upon the practicability of extending the accommodation for shipping to suit the rising demands of this great commercial emporium, beg leave to commence their report upon this important subject by describing the general outline of the proposed improvements, and then to proceed to discuss them in detail; but previous to this it is necessary to make a few preliminary remarks.
“On the Estuaries of the Dee and Mersey.
“In one or other of these must always continue to be the great port of the north-west of England, the preservation and improvement of which has become the more important since this last century has added so much to the progress of manufacturing and commercial enterprise, and to that extension of inland navigation, which has rendered Liverpool not only the great mart of the north-west of Britain and of all Ireland, but nearly of the whole western world.
“The chief feature of these estuaries is the extensive range of sandbanks in their front, through which an intricate ship-navigation has to be carried. These channels have been always subject to variations, and are now only safely navigated by a careful system of pilotage.
“In the progress of our investigations, and feeling the great importance of the measures we are about to recommend, we have carefully inquired into the various changes which have taken place on these banks, as far as can be collected from history or inferred from observation, in order to be enabled to judge what is likely to take place as to their future permanent condition.
“In the time of the Romans the Ribble seems to have been the chief port of this district, and Ribchester is said to have been a city as great as any out of Rome; the port was Poulton below Preston, at the Neb of the Naze, so vastly inferior at the present time to various situations on the Mersey and the Dee that it is impossible not to admit that some extraordinary change has taken place in their physical condition since that period. Tradition says that the port of the Ribble was destroyed by an earthquake, and also that there were tremendous inundations in Cheshire and Lancashire about the termination of the Roman sway in Britain; and various phenomena we have seen seem to point to some such catastrophe.
“It is well known that in the Saxon times the river Dee was an important navigation, and that Chester was then and for many ages after the great port of the west, and for the connection with Ireland, whilst the Mersey was little known, and Liverpool only a fishing village.
“But in after times the port of Chester was so much obstructed by sandbanks in the upper portions that the city became inaccessible to vessels of large draught, and though serious efforts were made to remedy this evil, and have even partly accomplished it, yet the trade of the country was gradually transferred to Liverpool on the Mersey, which had become a place of considerable importance at the time of the Revolution, and had been created an independent port: before, it was only a creek of Chester.
“In our inquiries into the early state of the navigations of the Dee and Mersey, the oldest chart we have found of any authority is that of Grenville Collins, in 1690. It is dedicated to King William, to whom he acted as pilot on his expedition to Ireland; and as that army embarked from Hoylake, as also that of the year before under General Schomberg, and as Collins was officially employed in making charts of the coast, there can be no doubt that, though rude, it conveys, as far as it goes, an authentic representation of the state of navigation at that time.
“The roadstead of Hoylake was then spacious and deep, with five fathoms into it, and seven fathoms inside, from one half to three quarters of a mile wide, and covered by the Hoyle Sand, which was then one solid bank without any swash or opening across it, and was dry at neap tides as far as opposite the Point of Air and beyond.
“The Dove Point then projected a mile and three-quarters from the shore, separating Hoylake from the Rock Channel, which was then nearly dry at low water as far as Mockbeggar, between which and Burbo Sand there was only one quarter fathom, and between Dove Point and Burbo only two fathoms.
“The large vessels which at that time belonged to Liverpool put out part of their lading in Hoylake until they were light enough to sail over the flats to Liverpool.
“The union of Hoylake and the Rock Channel formed, as at present, the principal passage to sea, called the Horse Channel, then a fair opening with three to seven fathoms, but considerably to the eastward of the present channel of that name; for Collins’s sailing mark through it was Mockbeggar Hall upon the Banquetting-House in Bidston, would mark the present Spencer’s Gut as having been the channel. The north spit did not then exist, or rather was part of the Hoyle bank; and the Beggar’s Patch seems to have been the extremity of Dove Point. The Formby Channel was said to have three fathoms on the bar, but was not buoyed or beaconed, therefore not used.
“The Chester bar had nine feet least water; and Wild Road is marked as good anchorage, much used in the coal trade. About 1760, published in 1776, we have the Survey of Mackenzie, who was employed by the Admiralty to make charts of the western coasts of Britain, which are still in high reputation.
“At this time Hoylake continued to be a good roadstead, though greatly altered; the depth at entrance was only two fathoms, eight fathoms in the middle, the width only three furlongs, and its length had diminished at least a mile. A passage was opened from the Rock Channel across to Dove Point into Hoylake, and across the east end of Hoyle Sand, with four to eight fathoms, forming the present Horse Channel.
“On this chart we also perceive the beginning of another opening across the Hoyle Sand, now called Helbre Swash, then dry at low water at each end, having three fathoms in the middle, now a deep and fair channel with seven to nine fathoms, and two and a half least water at its mouth.
“Since the opening of this channel or swash little or no tide sets through the Hoylake, which is gradually closing up, and now used only for small craft.
“The existence of Hoylake was of material importance to Liverpool and also to the Dee, for vessels could run there at any time; the entrance to it was marked by leading lights in the middle of last century, one of the first applications of reflecting lights to the purposes of navigation; they are now of little use, as the sand has shifted to the eastward, and the entrance is nearly dry at low water.
“The Rock Channel seems to have undergone a very important change by the time of Mackenzie’s survey. We have observed that in Collins’s time, 1690, it was dry at low water as far nearly as Mockbeggar. Although this is still nearly the case at the Perch at low tides, it is opened below that in a material degree. In the space of seventy years the channel had deepened to have three or four fathoms in Wallasey Hole; also between Mockbeggar Wharf and the north bank, which was dry at low water; and a channel had opened across Dove Point, with two and three fathoms, into Hoylake, and from thence across the east end of Hoyle, forming the present Horse Channel, as before described, with four to eight fathoms out to sea. On the other hand, the sand from this deepening had been carried down to seaward, forming a complete shoal across the original Horse Channel of Collins’s time, in whose sailing-line is marked a depth of four feet only, and this shoal connected with that called the Beggar’s Patch, and thence with the spit or flat along the west side of the Horse Channel, on which was six feet water. This last channel was direct and fair, with five to eight fathoms, and previous to the publication of Mackenzie’s chart, but after the time of his survey, was marked by two lighthouses at Leasowe shore, and subsequently by that on Bidston Hill under the direction of Captain Hutchinson, as was also the entrance into Hoylake by the two lights near Meols, as before described.
“The Formby Channel is marked as deep upon Mackenzie’s chart, with four fathoms at the entrance, and between Taylor’s Bank and Middle Patch two fathoms; there is now only five feet over the flats at low water at its entrance, and it was buoyed in at Mackenzie’s time; but, though the deepest channel to Liverpool, it is, from its intricacy and instability, still very little used for navigation.
“Lieutenant Evans published a survey of the Liverpool and Chester rivers, with a book of sailing directions, which is in good repute. We have preferred the chart by Mr. Thomas in 1813, made by order of the Lords of the Admiralty, for the purpose of comparison with the several before mentioned surveys, as more minute in detail.
“At the time of this survey, fifty years after that of Mackenzie, Hoylake had diminished in breadth to one furlong; the depth at the entrance was three to seven feet; four fathoms near the Red Stones; since that time it is still shallowing, and now may be walked across at low water, from Dove Point to East Hoyle; so that this roadstead may be considered as lost.
“Helbre Swash had opened to half a mile wide, with six or eight fathoms water, but with a shoal at its entrance of one fathom; there are now two fathoms and a half through that entrance.
“The Brazil or North Bank had extended dry, at low water, as far as Spencer’s Gut Buoy, and the North Spit or four feet flats had extended into the Horse Channel across the line of sea lights, thereby forcing that channel further into Hoyle Bank. The lower part of the Rock Channel had enlarged by the formation of a passage on each side of the Beggar’s Patch.
“The entrance to Formby Channel had very much altered since Mackenzie’s time, and, though better marked, still continued to be little frequented. The floating light placed opposite Helbre Swash and the Horse Channel, outside of all the banks, has made a great improvement in the access from the seaward in that direction.
“The Rock Channel, from these circumstances, continues to be the main passage to and from the harbour of Liverpool, but it is only provided with day marks, and though well buoyed cannot be navigated by night; being very narrow, and having banks in its middle, it is difficult for vessels to beat through with foul winds in one tide, and as there is no secure anchorage, frequent delays and losses take place in this part of the navigation.
“Within the harbour of Liverpool or in the river Mersey the principal places of anchorage are—
“1st, Abreast the town.
“2d, Off the Magazines, which is used by the outward-bound vessels.
“3d, Up the river in Sloyne Roads, or Broombro Pool, which is almost confined to vessels under quarantine.
“In the two first-mentioned anchorages a great sea tumbles in, with NE. gales, and this, with the rapid tide and bad holding ground, causes vessels to drift, even with two anchors down, so that it is necessary for all the merchant vessels, as soon as the tide serves, to proceed into dock and remain there until a favourable opportunity occurs of putting to sea, so as to get through the Rock and Horse Channels with daylight; hence a considerable accumulation of vessels within the docks at all times, but especially when there has been a continuance of northerly and westerly winds, and which has made it necessary to look now for additional accommodation on the opposite shore of Wallasey Pool.
“Proposed establishment at Wallasey.
“Small craft find good shelter on the banks at the mouth of Wallasey Pool, being there out of the stream, and land-locked by the Point of Seacombe.
“The steamers also, to which dispatch is of moment, moor along this shore, and if there was more room in Wallasey Pool it would decidedly be the best anchorage about Liverpool.
“Wallasey Creek runs nearly for two miles from the Mersey, where it is stopped by an embankment, through which the waters of 3000 acres of marsh land pass by a tunnel. The pool below the embankment covers nearly 250 acres at spring-tides, and by its backwater maintains a channel through the creek down to low water springs, and with seventeen feet at high water springs as far up as the embankment.
“Previous to the embankment it is certain that this creek was materially deeper. On Mackenzie’s chart, opposite to its mouth, there are twenty fathoms marked, being much more than anywhere within the Mersey at present, and a bottom of rock. This channel would therefore be restored by any considerable addition to the backwater; and at all events, if the lower parts of the creek were opened by dredging, and, by a power of scouring it, low water obtained, a safer inlet for vessels to run to would be acquired than at present exists anywhere in the neighbourhood of Liverpool.
“On the south side of the creek, between Woodside Ferry and Bridge End, there is a bottom of sandstone rock, but this ceases at Bridge End Creek; and above that place the shore is composed of firm clay, fit for brick making, to a depth at least of thirty feet, in which excavation for docks and basins could be carried on with great facility.
“Upon the attention being directed to Wallasey Pool as a commercial station, it will appear at first view obvious that an entrance might be made along the low ground which extends from it to the sea shore at Leasowe, by which a direct passage to sea might be obtained, and the insecurities and dangers of the bar and banks of the Rock Channel be avoided; but the objections to such an entrance are, that the channel outside affords no safe anchorage, and the cut would be exposed directly to the stroke of the sea, and if protected by piers their construction would not only be expensive, but might also materially alter the channel along shore.
“But the ground continues equally favourable to the westward as far as Hoylake and the Dee below the hill of the Grange. The shore is skirted by a narrow belt of sandhills, through which however there would be no great difficulty in making a passage into the tideway. Here it is important to remark that the Helbre Swash opens a deep and fair channel, well sheltered by banks on each side, and only five miles in extent to the floating light, which is in a direct line with it.
“This channel has been formed within the last century, and readily accounts for the deterioration of Hoylake; it now carries down most of the ebb of the Dee, and is likely to improve still more, having deepened materially since Thomas’s survey in 1813.
“Through all the vicissitudes we have traced there has been deep water and good anchorage at the point of Helbre Island; and as that situation affords solid rock for every sort of construction, there can be no risk of the permanency of any work that may be established there.
“Sea-locks constructed at Helbre would be protected against the prevailing westerly gales by the island itself, against the northerly by the bank of East Hoyle; and they may be connected to the mainland by banks formed across the strand, which is mostly dry at high water of neap tides; and by means of these banks a pond of sixty-four acres may be enclosed, which, being filled at spring tides, may be employed for the purposes of scouring and keeping open the harbour and its entrance, and as a reservoir for a ship canal from thence to the shore, and along the low ground to Wallasey Pool. Such a canal, of large dimensions, and seven miles long, will be one continued floating harbour, which may be carried to a great extent in various directions and on the same level.
“Independent of Helbre Swash two other channels for ships passing to sea unite at that position; one, the original Hoylake, still sufficiently navigable at high water; the other, the passage by Wild Road and Chester Bar, greatly superior in safety and permanency to that of the Formby Channel; for in all the successive charts little or no change seems to have taken place on that bar, which continues to have nine feet at low water, with a rise of thirty. The great extent of ebb-tide from the Dee (being quite as extensive an estuary as that of the Mersey) must always keep one or other of those channels or all of them open, so that ships may sail from Helbre in almost every wind; and if necessary to beat out, a vessel starting from Helbre with the first of the ebb down the Swash will be at the floating light and clear of the banks before another from Liverpool can get round the Rock Perch.
“To persons at all acquainted with the navigation to Liverpool it must be quite unnecessary to point out the benefit of this proposed arrangement, which, while it preserves all the advantages of communicating with the Mersey, and the extensive inland navigations connected therewith, affords a new passage to and from the sea, by means of the Dee, by which both the distance and dangers of an intricate navigation will be wholly avoided.
“An important advantage obtained by this plan is, that the proposed entrance at Helbre is within the jurisdiction of the port of Chester, of which it is recorded as a creek in Sir Matthew Hale’s Treatise De portibus maris; and business done there or upon its waters, even as far as Wallasey Pool, being within the port of Chester, will have to pay the dues at that port; and unless ships and goods lock into the Mersey they are exempted from the dues of Liverpool. The facility of construction is so great that a moderate charge for dues will be a sufficient remuneration for the capital required. The ground on either side of the canal is singularly suitable to be appropriated to any kind of establishment connected with shipping, and there can be no doubt that it will be so employed even by private speculation; but in so extensive a scheme as we propose it will be advisable for the promoters of the measure at once to establish a set of docks and warehouses of the most perfect description, as has been done in all the docks which have been constructed in and adjacent to London, and we have accordingly designed a set of such warehouses and yards as part of the plan.
“Details of the Plan.
“Commencing at the river Mersey, we propose to dredge out and widen Wallasey Creek at least to the depth of three feet under low water of spring tides, being four feet below the sill of Prince’s Dock, and this for 200 feet in width up as far as the entrance into the basins; to lay the sill of the greater entrance lock at that level, also the sill of the basin of the barge lock. The barge entrance lock to have a lift of ten feet; the ship lock four feet; so as to give the same water when the gates are opened as into the Prince’s Dock. The side of Wallasey Creek will be quayed for four hundred yards below the entrance of the dock, to facilitate transporting vessels into and out of the basins.
“The tide basin is 1000 yards long, and 100 yards wide in the middle, curving on the north side towards the locks at each end, the south side receding 100 feet, so as to give berthage to timber vessels, and in the front of them a sloping wharf and bonding yards for timber; a line of barge canal between these yards and the warehouses on the main dock will facilitate the removal of the timber without interfering with the shipping.
“The entrance lock into this basin from the tideway will be fifty feet wide, the entrance wing walls widening gradually to 100 feet, to afford easy access to the shipping when both gates are thrown open. At low water, neaps, or half tide, two or three vessels may pass at a time. The upper lock between this basin and the canal to be double; one large lock, forty-five feet wide and 160 feet long, for great ships, and another, twenty-five feet wide, for smaller vessels, with gates at each end, pointing both to land and seawards. These locks to rise to four feet below the old dock sill of Liverpool, and thus to have twenty-two feet water in the canal on the level of an eighteen feet tide, which we propose to make the surface level of the canal.
“The ship dock parallel to this basin will be 400 yards long and 100 wide, with warehouses on each side, supported by iron pillars, so as to form a covered wharf, as at the St. Katherine’s Dock in London; behind these warehouses a parallel barge canal fit for river flats, forty feet wide, which will, as in Holland, be found a singular convenience. These canals communicate with a dock and basin for flats only, whence the barges may be let down into the creek during the ebb; and as they navigate at the lowest water they will be ready to pass up the Mersey with the first of the flood; and in like manner, coming down with the last of the ebb, will get into the pool and enter the dock without losing a tide. Ships from the Mersey, in like manner, may enter the basin with half-flood, and be ready to proceed down the Swash with the first of the ebb.
“The flat marsh by the Boilers Yards is well adapted for this establishment, but as the ground beyond is high for some distance we propose the canal to be 124 feet only at water surface for 1000 yards from the locks, and to be lined with a stone wall on each side, so that this space will, in fact, be also a dock. Afterwards the marsh widens, and here is a favourable place for another entrance basin and dock, if necessary. From this point we propose to continue the canal with sloping banks, the bottom to be four feet under the level of the old dock sill, and 163 feet in width at the surface of the water, which will be twenty-two feet in depth.
“The canal proceeds at first in the direction of the Leasowe Lighthouse, and approaches within half a mile of the shore, and about the same distance north of the village of Moreton, and then turns to the westward, keeping half a mile inland from the villages of Great and Little Meols through Newton Car, where it turns off to Helbre Island, and enters the strand about half a mile above the hotel; across the strand it is carried by embankments to the upper end of Helbre Island. A large breadth is allowed for the embankment on the sea-side, with facing mound of stone from the rocky point near the Red Stone to within 600 feet of the Point of Helbre. The head of this pier to be of rough stone, rounded off, and carefully paved. A pier head is to be built in Helbre of 300 feet in length, leaving an opening of 300 feet into the tide harbour, which is fifty acres in extent, and to be cleared to at least low water of a spring-tide, and preserved of that depth by scouring.
“A quay wall is to be constructed of hewn stone along the Helbre Island from the pier-head 600 yards to the tide lock, which is to be fifty feet wide, as at Wallasey; another tide lock of similar dimensions on the north side of the harbour. The north pier is only intended to be of rough stone; but a short covering pier will be made to protect that lock and facilitate the entry of ships. Above these locks the canal is to be formed into a tide basin of 500 yards in length, the level of which may be kept at that of the tide of the day; and at the upper end are two parallel canal locks, as at Wallasey, with gates pointing to the sea and land at each end, as the tide will occasionally rise higher than the level of the water in the canal.
“From Helbre Island to the Middle Helbre, thence to the Eye, and from that to the shore at Kirby Church, an embankment and road will be carried along the ridge and made water-tight. By this and the canal a pond, as has already been described, will be enclosed, of 640 acres, which will fill at spring-tides to the depth of nine feet, containing 3,000,000 of cubic yards, and may be all emptied for the purpose of scouring the outer harbour; but at the latter part of the spring tides it will be advisable to fill this pond as a reservoir for lockage water, for which purpose it may be drawn down three feet to the canal level, and will hold 1200 locks-full for ship lockage at each end, and, if necessary, 1000 more locks-full may be drawn off without any material inconvenience to the navigation.
“We now subjoin an estimate of what we conceive will be the expense of completing these works, including an extensive range of warehouses on each side of the dock at Wallasey Pool, and of enclosed timber yards along the tide basin; and for all the items we have made a liberal provision.
“Estimate.
Excavations in Wallasey Creek and Helbre Harbour, also in the Locks, Basins, and Canal to Helbre, and Barge Canal and Basins, £436,017 Quay Walls on Creek, Basins, Locks, and Canal at Wallasey Pool, 230,100 Bridges and Tunnels, 38,000 Piers and Quays Walls, Helbre Harbour, 95,100 Locks, Dams, and Culverts, Helbre Harbour, 111,000 Warehouses at Wallasey Pool, Inclosure Walls, and Paving, 183,000 Purchase of Land, 125,000 For Surveys, Act of Parliament, Law Expenses, Superintendents’, Lock-keepers’, and other Offices, etc., and Contingencies on Works, Fifteen per Cent., 182,731 £1,400,948 “For the above sum a floating harbour will be obtained of seven miles in length, capable of indefinite enlargement, with extensive warehouse accommodation, and with a sea-port at either end on the two separate estuaries. That this is not too great for the wants of the country will be at once admitted by those who consider the vast extent of shipping usually moored in the Thames, notwithstanding all its docks; the total inapplicability of the rivers Mersey or Dee to such a purpose; and the confined space which even the docks of Liverpool can afford for the accommodation of a trade now hardly inferior to that of the metropolis, and certainly and rapidly increasing.
“Thos. Telford.
Robt. Stevenson.
Alexander Nimmo.“London, 16th May 1828.”
“The Report of Thomas Telford, Robert Stevenson, and Alexander Nimmo, Civil Engineers, recommending Two extensive new Sea Ports, etc., on the Rivers Dee and Mersey, adjacent to Liverpool, with a Floating Harbour or Ship Canal to connect them.
| Excavations in Wallasey Creek and Helbre Harbour, also in the Locks, Basins, and Canal to Helbre, and Barge Canal and Basins, | £436,017 |
| Quay Walls on Creek, Basins, Locks, and Canal at Wallasey Pool, | 230,100 |
| Bridges and Tunnels, | 38,000 |
| Piers and Quays Walls, Helbre Harbour, | 95,100 |
| Locks, Dams, and Culverts, Helbre Harbour, | 111,000 |
| Warehouses at Wallasey Pool, Inclosure Walls, and Paving, | 183,000 |
| Purchase of Land, | 125,000 |
| For Surveys, Act of Parliament, Law Expenses, Superintendents’, Lock-keepers’, and other Offices, etc., and Contingencies on Works, Fifteen per Cent., | 182,731 |
| £1,400,948 |
“Further Report respecting the proposed two new Ports, etc., on the Rivers Dee and Mersey, adjacent to Liverpool.
“In the foregoing report we have shown the form and expense of this establishment when completed upon an extensive and perfect plan. At the commencement, however, of so great an undertaking it is not to be expected that all the conveniences we have proposed can be immediately required; a considerable portion may therefore be deferred until the wants and increasing demands of trade shall show them to be necessary. In the meantime the essential parts of the improvement may be effected, with a smaller expenditure of capital, so as to obtain all that safety and facility of access which we have shown to be leading features of this plan.
“We have proposed to make the canal from Wallasey to Helbre wide enough for three great ships, so as to admit of part of it being used as a floating harbour, still leaving room for navigation; but for navigation alone it will be quite enough to adopt the dimensions of the Caledonian Canal, viz., 120 feet at surface, and if the trade should increase so as to require it, instead of widening it, a parallel canal may hereafter be made, with a bank and two towing-paths between, leaving the whole of the opposite banks applicable to berthage and commercial establishments. The same locks will serve at either end, and the transporting of ships be greatly facilitated; and the construction of this canal, or repair of the other, may be effected without any interruption to the navigation by such an arrangement. Again, the double locks at the Wallasey end of the canal, intended for the greater dispatch of business, may very well be deferred for the present, and the entrance basin made of smaller dimensions. The ship dock there may at first be made as a part of the canal, and quayed on one side only, and afterwards widened and completed when wanted. The half tide dock may be dispensed with by enlarging the barge tide dock so as to serve also for ships, and the quay walling of the pool and of the first mile of the canal may also be deferred. The warehouses at Wallasey dock may be dispensed with at first, or left to individual capital; but it will be highly proper to secure a sufficient quantity of land to enable all these improvements to be undertaken at some future period. We do not deem it advisable to give up the enlargement and deepening of the entrance of Wallasey Pool, as on that depends much of the utility of the plan in giving access to vessels at low tides; and for a similar reason we would preserve all the works proposed for the harbour at Helbre Island. Upon this modified plan the expense, as below, will be £734,163.
“Thos. Telford.
Robt. Stevenson.
Alex. Nimmo.“Chester, July 14, 1828.
“Estimate.
Excavating Tide Basin, Barge Dock, and half of Ship Dock, at Wallasey End, £25,000 Walling along the Pool, from Brassey’s Works, also the Barge Dock and one side of Ship Dock, 31,500 Ship Lock, Barge Lock, and Tide Gates for Basin, and two Swivel Bridges, 36,500 Dredging Wallasey Creek, as before, 20,000 Land and Damages, 51,000 £164,000 Fifteen per Cent. Contingencies, 24,485 For Wallasey End, £188,485 Excavating Canal, £207,403 Bridges and Tunnel, 22,000 Land and Damages, 27,000 £256,403 Fifteen per Cent., 38,460 For the Canal, £294,863 Pier and Quay Walls from Helbre, as before, £95,100 Locks, Dams, and Culverts, do., 111,000 Excavation in Harbour, 10,000 Strand and Damages on Isle, 2,000 Fifteen per Cent., 32,715 £250,815 General Total, £734,163 ”
| Excavating Tide Basin, Barge Dock, and half of Ship Dock, at Wallasey End, | £25,000 | |
| Walling along the Pool, from Brassey’s Works, also the Barge Dock and one side of Ship Dock, | 31,500 | |
| Ship Lock, Barge Lock, and Tide Gates for Basin, and two Swivel Bridges, | 36,500 | |
| Dredging Wallasey Creek, as before, | 20,000 | |
| Land and Damages, | 51,000 | |
| £164,000 | ||
| Fifteen per Cent. Contingencies, | 24,485 | |
| For Wallasey End, | £188,485 | |
| Excavating Canal, | £207,403 | |
| Bridges and Tunnel, | 22,000 | |
| Land and Damages, | 27,000 | |
| £256,403 | ||
| Fifteen per Cent., | 38,460 | |
| For the Canal, | £294,863 | |
| Pier and Quay Walls from Helbre, as before, | £95,100 | |
| Locks, Dams, and Culverts, do., | 111,000 | |
| Excavation in Harbour, | 10,000 | |
| Strand and Damages on Isle, | 2,000 | |
| Fifteen per Cent., | 32,715 | |
| £250,815 | ||
| General Total, | £734,163 | ” |
I have given the Reports of the three Engineers to whom this question was remitted, to show the very comprehensive view they took of the important subject referred for their opinion; and it is almost unnecessary to tell professional readers that after a lapse of nearly a quarter of a century the embryo but comprehensive proposal of Telford, Stevenson, and Nimmo resulted in the modified but still large Birkenhead Dock scheme of J. M. Rendel.
* * * * *
The original design for the improvement of the Tay was made by Messrs. Robert and Alan Stevenson, in 1833, and in connection with my father’s life a short account of the works may be desirable as illustrating his practice in River Engineering in the Tay and other rivers.
The river Tay, with its numerous tributaries, receives the drainage water of a district of Scotland amounting to 2283 square miles, as measured on Arrowsmith’s map. Its mean discharge has been ascertained to be 274,000 cubic feet, or 7645 tons of water per minute. It is navigable as far as Perth, which is twenty-two miles from Dundee and thirty-two from the German Ocean.
Before the commencement of the works, certain ridges, called “fords,” stretched across the bed of the river, at different points between Perth and Newburgh, and obstructed the passage to such a degree that vessels drawing from ten to eleven feet could not, during the highest tides, make their way up to Perth without great difficulty. The depth of water on these fords varied from one foot nine inches to two feet six inches at low, and eleven feet nine inches to fourteen feet at high water of spring tides; so that the regulating navigable depth, under the most favourable circumstances, could not be reckoned at more than eleven feet. The chief disadvantage experienced by vessels in the unimproved state of the river was the risk of their being detained by grounding, or being otherwise obstructed at these defective places, so as to lose the tide at Perth,—a misfortune which, at times when the tides were falling from springs to neaps, often led to the necessity either of lightening the vessel, or of detaining her till the succeeding springs afforded sufficient depth for passing the fords. The great object aimed at, therefore, was to remove every cause of detention, and facilitate the propagation of the tidal wave in the upper part of the river, so that inward-bound vessels might take the first of the flood to enable them to reach Perth in one tide. Nor was it, indeed, less important to remove every obstacle that might prevent outward-bound vessels from reaching Newburgh, and the more open and deep parts of the navigation before low water of the tide with which they left Perth.
The works undertaken by the Harbour Commissioners of Perth for the purpose of remedying the evils alluded to, and which extended over six working seasons, may be briefly described as follows:—
1st, The fords, and many intermediate shallows, were deepened by steam dredging; and the system of harrowing was employed in some of the softer banks in the lower part of the river. Many large detached boulders and “fishing cairns,” which obstructed the passage of vessels, were also removed.
2d, Three subsidiary channels, or offshoots from the main stream, at Sleepless, Darry, and Balhepburn islands, were shut up by embankments formed of the produce of the dredging, so as to confine the whole of the water to the navigable channel, and the banks of the navigable channel were widened to receive the additional quantity of water which they had to discharge.
3d, In some places the banks on either side of the river beyond low water mark, where much contracted, were excavated, in order to equalise the currents, by allowing sufficient space for the free passage of the water; and this was more especially done on the shores opposite Sleepless and Darry islands, where the shutting up of the secondary channels rendered it more necessary.
The benefit to the navigation in consequence of the completion of these works was of a twofold kind; for not only was the depth of water materially increased by actual deepening of the waterway, and the removal of numerous obstructions from the bed of the river, but a clearer and a freer passage was made for the flow of the tide, which begins to rise at Perth much sooner than before; and as the time of high water is unaltered, the advantages of increased depth due to the presence of the tide is proportionally increased throughout the whole range of the navigation; or, in other words, the duration of tidal influence has been prolonged.
The depths at the shallowest places were pretty nearly equalised, being five feet at low and fifteen feet at high water, of ordinary spring tides, instead, as formerly, of one foot nine inches at low and eleven feet at high water. Steamers of small draught of water can now therefore ply at low water, and vessels drawing fourteen feet can now come up to Perth in one tide with ease and safety.
CHAPTER IX.
PRESERVATION OF TIMBER.
1808–1843.
In 1808 Mr. Stevenson was the discoverer of the Limnoria terebrans, that small but sure destroyer of timber structures exposed to the action of the sea, and forwarded specimens of the insect and of the timber it had destroyed to Dr. Leach, the eminent naturalist, of the British Museum, who, in 1811, announced it as a “new and highly interesting species which had been sent to him by his friend Robert Stevenson, Civil Engineer,” and assigned to it the name of Limnoria terebrans (Linnean Trans., vol. xi. p. 37, and Edinburgh Encylopædia, vol. vii. p. 433).
The Teredo navalis, which is a larger and even more destructive enemy, is happily not so prevalent in northern seas as the Limnoria.
So impressed was Mr. Stevenson with the importance of his discovery as affecting marine engineering, and especially harbour works, that he resolved to establish a train of systematic experiments by exposing the timber of different trees to the action of salt water, and it occurred to him that no situation could be more suitable for such observations than the Bell Rock, where the specimens would not only be fully exposed to the sea, and free from any interference, but would be strictly watched and minutely reported on by the lightkeepers. He further conceived it proper, in the interests of the navy, to take the Admiralty into his counsels, and he accordingly communicated his intention to that Board, with the result that many of the specimens of timber experimented on were sent from Woolwich dockyard, and the results of the trials were from time to time communicated to the Admiralty.
The different blocks of timber under trial were treenailed to the rock, and the experiments extended over a period of nearly thirty years. They clearly proved that teak, African oak, English and American oak, mahogany, beech, ash, elm, and the different varieties of pine, were found sooner or later to become a prey to the Limnoria. Greenheart oak was alone found to withstand their attacks, and even this timber was ultimately not entirely unaffected.
The result of these valuable experiments is given in the following Table:—
Table showing the different kinds of Timber which were exposed to the attacks of the Limnoria terebrans at the Bell Rock in 1814, 1821, 1837, 1843, with their durabilities.
| Kind of Timber. | Decay first observed. | Unsound and quite decayed. | Quite sound for | Remarks. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yrs. | mo. | yrs. | mo. | yrs. | mo. | ||
| Greenheart,1 | 19 | 0 | 1 Affected in one corner. | ||||
| Teak-wood, | 13 | 0 | |||||
| Beef-wood, | 13 | 0 | |||||
| Treenail of Bullet-wood, | 5 | 0 | |||||
| Beech, Payne’s patent pro.,2 | 10 | 7 | 2 A little holed at one end underneath. Nearly sound 7½ years after being laid down. | ||||
| Teak-wood,3 | 5 | 6 | |||||
| African Oak,4 | 5 | 6 | 3 Nearly sound 7½ years after being laid down. | ||||
| Do. do. | 4 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 4 Nearly sound 7½ years after being laid down. | ||
| English Oak, kyanised, | 4 | 7 | 10 | 0 | |||
| Teak-wood, | 4 | 7 | 12 | 0 | |||
| American Oak, kyanised,5 | 4 | 3 | 5 Decaying, but slowly, 5 years and 7 months after being laid down. | ||||
| British Ash, | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Scotch Elm, | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Ash, | 2 | 11 | 4 | 3 | |||
| English Elm, | 2 | 11 | 4 | 7 | |||
| Plane Tree,6 | 2 | 11 | 6 Decaying, but slowly, 5 years and 7 months after being laid down. | ||||
| American Oak, | 2 | 11 | 4 | 7 | |||
| Baltic Red Pine,7 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 A good deal decayed when first observed. | ||
| English Oak, | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | |||
| Scotch Oak,8 | 2 | 4 | 8 Much decayed when first observed. | ||||
| Baltic Oak, | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |||
| Norway Fir, | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Baltic Red Pine, kyanised, | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | |||
| Pitch Pine, | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |||
| American Yellow Pine, | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | |||
| American Red Pine, | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Do. do., kyanised, | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | |||
| Larch, | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |||
| Honduras Mahogany,9 | 2 | 1 | 9 Nearly sound 3½ years after being laid down. Washed away 6 months later. | ||||
| Beech, | 1 | 9 | 3 | 1 | |||
| American Elm, | 1 | 9 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Treenail of Locust, | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| British Oak, | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
| American Oak, | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Plane Tree, | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Honduras Teak treenails, | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Beech, | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Scotch Fir, teak treenails, | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Do. from Lanarkshire, | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Do. do. | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Do. Locust treenails, | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Memel Fir, | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Pitch Pine,10 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 10 Going fast when first observed. | ||
| English Oak, | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Italian Oak, | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| Dantzic Oak, | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |||
| English Elm, | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| Canada Rock Elm, | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| Cedar of Lebanon, | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Riga Fir, | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| Dantzic Fir, | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| Virginia Pine, | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| Yellow Pine,11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 A good deal gone 18 months after being laid down. Swept away by the sea 7 months afterwards. | ||
| Red Pine, | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| Cawdie Pine,12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12 A good deal decayed when first observed. | ||
| Polish Larch,13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 13 Going fast when first observed. | ||
| Birch, Payne’s patent pro., | 0 | 10 | 1 | 10 | |||
| American Locust treenails, | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | |||
Mr. Stevenson seems to have formed an opinion that the best preservative against decay was charring the timber, as recommended in the following extract from a report, made in 1811, to the Trustees of Montrose Bridge:—
“The changeableness of climate to which the northern parts of this island are subject renders edifices of timber more liable to decay here than perhaps in any other country in Europe. But the bridge at Montrose is curiously circumstanced; for while it unavoidably exposes a great surface of timber to the action of the weather, some of the wooden piers are immersed twenty-two feet in the water, where they are attacked by a destructive marine worm. Some of the woodwork at the Bell Rock was infested with the same species of animal which preys upon the wooden pier at Montrose. In some of the temporary works there, as in the beams laid for carrying the railway over the inequalities of the rock, the timber was so much wormed that some logs measuring one foot when laid down would not square to more than nine inches at the end of three years. The beams which supported the wooden house for the accommodation of the artificers while the lighthouse was erecting escaped almost untouched, having been slightly charred, but the reporter, when inspecting the Bell Rock works this year, found that these worms are making some impression upon the ends of the supports resting on the rock where the charring could not take effect. The reporter is therefore of opinion that there is no better defence against the effects of this animal than slightly charring the timber, and he would recommend the practice at the bridge of Montrose wherever it can be applied. The operation of charring at the Bell Rock was performed by previously scraping off the adhering matter upon the logs and laying the skin of the wood open, and tar was applied to promote the combustion. Charcoal, besides being tasteless and inodorous, possesses some very curious properties in its action upon vegetable and animal substances, which may not only render it insipid, but even offensive to this insect. For those parts between the high-water mark and the roadway it will be enough to scrape the timber and lay it over with hot tar.”
I need hardly say that this advice would perhaps not have been given at the present day, when even creosote has been found to delay, though not to act as a perfect defence against, the ravages of the Limnoria.[10]